With soaring food prices across the world pushing millions into hunger, the United Nations has decided to hold a special session on July 18 to discuss food and energy crisis.

The two crises are linked as, among the causes of rising prices, is the diversion of food crops for production of ethanol in an effort to cut down on consumption of oil.

The food crisis is "an immediate challenge with a practical inter-linkage with most of UN main priorities: the global food crisis has serious repercussions on reaching the Millennium Development Goals and it has an impact on financing for development," UN General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim told reporters on Thursday while informing about the meeting.

Referring to the expansion of the Security Council reform, Kerim conceded that sharp differences remain among the member States despite 14 years of discussions, pointing out that the only position on which all agree is that the current composition does not reflect the current realties.

Member states, he said, know quite well the various positions that had been put forward, including the option of an intermediary solution, which would entail agreeing on a set of reforms which would be reviewed after 10 or 15 years.

India and several other major member states are opposed to any intermediary solution which does not include expansion of the Council in permanent category. It provides for expansion of the number of non permanent members and a review the situation after 10 or 15 years.

India backed by a majority of nations argues that without expansion in the permanent category, there would be no change in the current situation when developing countries are rarely consulted by the permanent members while taking decisions which directly affect them.